End In Fire
by Eyes for Eternity
Summary: "That's it? What if he's in the Avatar State? What happens to his spirit? And the spirits of all his past lives that are in the Sprit World?" Kinari asked. Her mother sighed. "No one knows. It's never happened."
1. Chapter 1

**AN: The beginning snippet has nothing to do with the story, at the moment. Kinari (kihn-AH-ree, not entirely sure if it's a real name, but it had an interesting ring to it)and her mother will probably have no further appearances. I just kind of needed to put the little explanation in, and it always turned out weird when I used existing characters. So yeah. I make no guarantees on the updating schedule of this. I'm headed into my third week of high school. High school is like hell. A fiery, torturous hell, with white-hot tongues of flame licking the feet of those who walk throughout its hallways of teenage misery. And uther fuhn shtuff liek dat. So between my English essays and math homework and fudging conjugating Spanish fudging verbs (WTF makes Freshman do such things in the friggen first three weeks of school?) I don't have lotsa time to write. But yeah. I came up with this when I should've been listening to a lesson on sentence structure in English. Psh, it's not like I'll have a quiz on that lesson tomorrow, right? I'll just stop now.**

**And also, it takes place in the season 3 finale. JSYK.**

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><p>"<em>What if the Avatar is killed when they're in the Avatar State?" Kinari asks. Her mother looks at her with a plain face, focused on the soup boiling on the stove.<em>

"_Then the cycle ends and the Avatar is no more. Kinari, haven't we been over this? Your curiosity is getting old," her mother said, stirring the soup._

"_That's it? What happens to his spirit? And the spirits of all his past lives that are in the Sprit World?"_

_Her mother sighed._

"_No one knows. It's never happened."_

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><p>Aang ducked away. Not quick enough, though. The fireball smashed into his chest and he flew back onto one of the stone spires. Ozai's face was enveloped in a sadistic grin, and he flew over to the boy's limp body. Aang's eyes were wide open, and beams of blue light shone out into the air, igniting the sky and blocking out the scarlet glow of Sozin's Comet.<p>

The world stood still and the spirits weeped.

A mist of black began to envelop Aang's tattoos; the vibrant light faded from the sky and instead was replaced with a fog of darkness. Ozai reveled in his victory as the last Airbender's body descended spiritlessly to the rocks below.

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><p>"NO!"<p>

Zuko could only watch as the electric webs flashed in Katara's wide blue eyes. His mind was frozen, but he didn't protest as his body flung itself into the path. His muscles convulsed as he shuddered on the cobblestones, and a thick black screen crawled in front of his vision.

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><p>He woke up to the sound of sorrow and the breeze of destruction.<p>

They were on Appa's back, high in the air. The sky was black and orange, and he couldn't tell if the grey clouds were natural or the product of the smoldering ruins on the ground below. The atmosphere was thick and it burned his eyes and throat.

Zuko looked across the saddle to see his Waterbending companion in pieces. He attempted to move across to her, but when she saw him shift she hurried over and pushed him back down.

"Don't move, you aren't healed yet." He looked down to his chest and was horrified to see a raw, open patch of skin above his heart.

"What happened?" he rasped, coughing. She held his shoulders down until his breaths had settled and evened out.

"Aang was killed." He hadn't died or passed away. He hadn't ascended to the heavens. He was killed. Zuko's right eye widened.

"Was he in the Av-"

"Yes," she whispered, her throat closing and her breaths turning into gasps. He, even in his injured state, held her as she cried.

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><p><strong>So yeah. That was kind of depressing to write. If you review I may or may not possibly maybe include your suggestions if I feel like it at the time...and I'll also appreciate the thought. :) Thank you for reading!<strong>

**:D**


	2. Chapter 2

They leaned on the wall of the cave and gazed at the fire before them. Appa, across the width of the tunnel, looked around nervously in the confined space.

"What happened?" Zuko asked. Katara blinked and then closed her eyes from the glare of the flame.

"You remember Azula and the lightning, right?" she asked, burying her head in her arms. Zuko nodded.

"I remember everything up to that point." Katara peeked up out of her shell of flesh and bone and her shield of hair. Their eyes met and her voice dropped to a scratchy whisper.

"After that, I managed to knock her unconscious. I don't know how I did. I panicked. And then the sky...it lit up. The entire horizon just turned blue and bright...and then it turned black. For a few moments, I couldn't see anything, it was just all dark. And then the sky turned back to normal, and Azula was awake, and I just pulled you onto Appa and left." Zoo sat still and contemplated this for a moment.

"Were you hurt?" Katara bit her lip and looked away.

"Katara, if you're wounded then you have to let me-"

"I'm fine. I healed it, mostly." She lifted up the leg of her pants, exposing the inflamed red flesh of her calf. Zuko hesitantly reached forward and pressed his hand to the skin, assessing the damage. She pressed her teeth together and clenched her fists.

"It's going to scar," he whispered. She met his eyes.

"I know."

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><p>The day was beginning to come to a close. Zuko and Katara walked back into the cave with firewood and food in their arms. They sat by the fire and cooked a small dinner of soup made from leaves, nuts and the meat of a cat owl that they had acquired from the surrounding forest. Katara took a cooking pot and a tea pot out of the packs on Appa's saddle and bended water into them; she began the soup while Zuko boiled tea.<p>

Still hungry, but sufficiently sated for the time being, they sat around the fire and sipped cups of tea.

"What next?" Zuko asked, finishing his drink and setting the cup by the rest of the dirty dishes.

"I want to go to the North Pole. They relocated everyone from the South there for the Comet, and I'd like to use some water from the Spirit Oasis to finish healing us."

"We'll leave tomorrow, then." They laid out their bedrolls and fell into slumber next to the fire.

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><p>"Katara, wake up." She blinked and looked up at Zuko, who was shaking her awake.<p>

"What is it? Are we being attacked?" she asked, hurriedly climbing out of the blankets and standing up.

"Worse." He guided her outside of the cave and pointed at the sky. There was no moon. Stars were scarce. Katara looked up in horror, before her eyes landed on the ocean below the cliff face.

"There are no waves," she choked out. Zuko nodded.

"The Avatar was the sole link that the Spirit World had to the Earth. Maybe, when Aang, you know…" Zuko trailed off, glancing up at the moonless night.

"The Spirits left us." Terror registered on Katara's face, and her eyes contorted in fear.

Wordlessly, the two of them packed up their makeshift camp and left on Appa.


	3. Chapter 3

The Northern Water Tribe was completely locked down. All of the doors had either been locked, or, in the case of the homes of Waterbenders, frozen shut to the walls of ice. Upon seeing Katara and Zuko approaching on Appa, the Waterbenders at the wall sent word to the palace. When Appa landed, Chief Arnook was there to greet them. The two teenagers bowed traditionally.

"Katara, good to see you again. And, Prince Zuko, what a...pleasure to meet you," the Chief said, eyeing Zuko suspiciously.

The three walked to the palace and took refuge in an empty room. They sat before a large fireplace as Katara explained what had happened. Arnook listened carefully.

"With the Southern Tribe residing here as well, we've been a bit constricted on space. I believe there is an empty house near the middle of the city that the two of you can use for the time being. Now, it may be in your interest to have a talk with the Order of the White Lotus. They are currently at Master Pakku's home near the edge of the city. The warriors should arrive back any day now, Katara, and your father will be with them." Zuko and Katara's eyes lit up at the mention of his uncle and her father, but it was a short lived blessing once the gravity of their situation once again came down upon them.

"Katara, if you recall how to get to the Spirit Oasis, feel free to make use of its properties. Good luck." They bowed before Chief Arnook and began through the tunnels and passageways to the Oasis.

"Are we there yet?" Zuko complained, shivering from the icy walls and becoming weary. He could feel the energy dissipating from his body as his wound burned and worsened.

"Yes," Katara said, stepping out of the tunnel and into the warm cavern of the Oasis. She ran across one of the bridges and onto the island, followed closely by Zuko. Her hands found their way into the pool of water in the center of the island. She sighed at the coolness.

"Lie down," she commanded Zuko, who complied and rested on the soft green grass. She brought her hands, gloved in the spiritual water, out of the pool, and set them over his wound. The burning was soothed away and the redness receded. His vision cleared and he was no longer in pain. Katara brought water to her hands again, this time placing them over the burn on her leg. She sighed as it healed over, then lay down on the grass and closed her eyes. Then something changed.

The cavern lost something. Katara didn't know what it was until she glanced into the pool, though, and watched as the spirits Tui and La, in their Koi fish form, rise above the surface of the water. They manifested into human forms, only transparent and pale as they would appear as spirits, and began to fade into the air.

"_I'm sorry,"_ mouthed Yue, catching Katara's eyes.

"No," she whispered, grasping for her lost friend and the ocean spirit. Her fingers closed over wisps of air.

"Katara, we should-"

"They're leaving us. The spirits are really leaving the world," she said in disbelief, before beginning back down the tunnels out of the Oasis.

Zuko followed, directing his eyes away from the little pond that had become murky and dull, that was no longer significant.

Upon arriving at Master Pakku's house, Katara found Gran Gran. She had run to hug her faster than Zuko had gone to Iroh. The two women spent a time in the kitchen, telling stories of what had happened since they had last seen each other while they cooked the food for the men in the room next, who were strategizing as to how to protect the last city to be free of Fire Nation control (it wasn't that the kitchen was the place for women, Katara thought. She would've loved to be out there discussing the last few strings left of the war. It was just that men, save for possibly Iroh with his tea, were decidedly bad cooks. And she intended to die fighting, not by food poisoning.)

By the time that dinner was prepared, most of the members of the White Lotus had left to their own temporary homes. Iroh, Bumi, Jeong Jeong, and Piandao remained in Pakku's home. The latter three were to the side of the room, playing Pai Sho on a board made of clear ice. Katara and Zuko were at the other end of the room, talking with Iroh and Pakku, while Kanna washed dishes in the kitchen.

"We failed. Azula got the best of us and now…" Zuko said, falling into a sigh at the end and burying his face in his hands.

"You did not fail, nephew. Azula was but a distraction from the true enemy, your father, Ozai. The Avatar was the only hope to defeat the Phoenix King. He...did not succeed. The only thing left to do now is protect the North Pole from Fire Nation control. In time, the White Lotus will overthrow Ozai and Azula and we will take back the world. For the time being, though, patience is the most valuable virtue to possess," Iroh replied, staring down his nephew. Zuko nodded and bowed his head. The four contemplated this for a moment, before Katara broke the silence.

"Do you know when the warrior fleets are going to return?" she asked hopefully. Pakku smiled.

"If on schedule, your father and Bato should be here tomorrow," he responded. Katara beamed.

It was well into night before Katara and Zuko returned to the house they were using. Katara could've stayed with her grandparents and Zuko his uncle, but the idea of having old people coming and going at all hours of the night was not appealing to either of them. Soon after arriving, they retired to their bedrooms and rested for the upcoming day. In the absence of the moon, Katara slept more soundly than she ever had.

In the morning, Zuko woke up to the sounds of water being bended outside the house. He dressed and walked into the small courtyard, watching as Katara whipped the water into shapes and froze it into shards of ice. He walked further forward, only to be stopped when Katara heard the crunch of snow under his boot.

His limbs locked up and he could feel his heart stop beating. His breaths halted and his eyes became cloudy as they widened. She spun around.

Her face contorted into horror as she saw what she was doing. She immediately released Zuko, falling to her knees and pressing her palms to her face.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry, Zuko, I didn't mean to, and, I mean, it's not right to...I'm sorry!" she cried, shaking her head back and forth. Regaining control of his body, Zuko walked over to Katara and cradled her in his arms. She flinched away, but he gripped her shoulders and turned her back.

"It's okay. I'm fine. You were surprised, you had every right to do that," he soothed, patting her back.

"No, I shouldn't have, it's a terrible thing and I-I…" Her reasoning fell into a mess of sobs and hiccups. Zuko kneeled and held her until she had calmed down.

"You should go get ready. We're expected at Pakku's soon." Katara nodded and went into the house.

**So I'm abandoning the story, but this half-baked chapter has been sitting on my desktop for a few months now and I figured I would just upload it anyway.**


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